Term
| advanced sewage treatment |
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Definition
| Specialized chemical and physical processes that reduce the amount of specific pollutants left in wastewater after primary and secondary sewage treatment. This type of treatment usually is expensive. See also primary sewage treatment, secondary sewage treatment. |
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Term
| biological oxygen demand(BOD) |
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Definition
| Amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic decomposers to break down the organic materials in a given volume of water at a certain temperature over a specified time period. |
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Term
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Definition
| Overnourishment of aquatic ecosystems with plant nutrients (mostly nitrates and phosphates) because of human activities such as agriculture, urbanization, and discharges from industrial plants and sewage treatment plants. See eutrophication. |
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Term
| dissolved oxygen DO content |
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Definition
| Amount of oxygen gas (O2) dissolved in a given volume of water at a particular temperature and pressure, often expressed as a concentration in parts of oxygen per million parts of water. |
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Term
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Definition
| Physical, chemical, and biological changes that take place after a lake, estuary, or slow-flowing stream receives inputs of plant nutrients[[emdash]]mostly nitrates and phosphates[[emdash]]from natural erosion and runoff from the surrounding land basin. See cultural eutrophication. |
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Term
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Definition
| Large or dispersed land areas such as crop fields, streets, and lawns that discharge pollutants into the environment over a large area. Compare point source. |
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Term
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Definition
| Organic materials that are usually biodegraded by aerobic (oxygen-consuming) bacteria if there is enough dissolved oxygen in the water. See also biological oxygen demand. |
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Term
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Definition
| Single identifiable source that discharges pollutants into the environment. Examples are the smokestack of a power plant or an industrial plant, drainpipe of a meatpacking plant, chimney of a house, or exhaust pipe of an automobile. Compare nonpoint source. |
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Term
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Definition
| Mechanical sewage treatment in which large solids are filtered out by screens and suspended solids settle out as sludge in a sedimentation tank. Compare advanced sewage treatment, secondary sewage treatment. |
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Term
| secondary sewage treatment |
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Definition
| Second step in most waste treatment systems in which aerobic bacteria decompose up to 90% of degradable, oxygen-demanding organic wastes in wastewater. This usually involves bringing sewage and bacteria together in trickling filters or in the activated sludge process. Compare advanced sewage treatment, primary sewage treatment. |
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Term
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Definition
| Underground tank for treating wastewater from a home in rural and suburban areas. Bacteria in the tank decompose organic wastes, and the sludge settles to the bottom of the tank. The effluent flows out of the tank into the ground through a field of drainpipes. |
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Term
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Definition
| Gooey mixture of toxic chemicals, infectious agents, and settled solids removed from wastewater at a sewage treatment plant. |
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Definition
| Any physical or chemical change in surface water or groundwater that can harm living organisms or make water unfit for certain uses. |
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Definition
| to be any that has a carbon-carbon or a carbon-hydrogen bond |
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Definition
| A metal with a specific gravity greater than about 5.0, especially one that is poisonous, such as lead or mercury |
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Definition
| Any substance in which two or more chemical elements other than carbon are combined, nearly always in definite proportions (see bonding), as well as some compounds containing carbon but lacking carbon-carbon bonds |
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Definition
| for E. coli. It was designed to reduce or eliminate all gram negative colifrom |
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Term
| Clean Water Act 1972, 1977 |
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Definition
| Passed in 1972 and amended in 1977 and 1987, the Clean Water Act was originally known as the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. The Clean Water Act is administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which sets water quality standards, handles enforcement, and helps state and local governments develop their own pollution control plans. |
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| To achieve its goal the SDWA provides water quality standards for drinking-water suppliers, protects underground drinking-water sources, and directs appropriate deep-well injection of wastes. |
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| An area characterized by a high content of soil moisture, such as a swamp or bog. |
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Definition
| acute illness characterized by watery diarrhea that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Cholera is spread by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacteria. |
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Term
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Definition
| The curve obtained when the concentration of dissolved oxygen in a river into which sewage or some other pollutant has been discharged is plotted against the distance downstream from the sewage outlet |
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Term
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Definition
| are integrated structures and practices for collecting, storing and treating livestock manure and feed wastes to reduce runoff and water pollution. Controlling runoff from feedlots, barnyards and other livestock facilities helps prevent excess nutrients and pathogens from reaching rivers, streams and lakes. |
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Term
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Definition
| Lacking in plant nutrients and having a large amount of dissolved oxygen throughout. Used of a pond or lake. |
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Definition
| A space in air, water, or soil containing pollutants released from a point source. |
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Term
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Definition
| dense spread of algae which results from changes in the chemistry and/or temperature of lake water. Blooms may be green or red, and are most common in spring or early summer, when primary production outstrips the growth of the consumer organisms. |
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Definition
| ship gained infamy after the March 24, 1989 oil spill in which the tanker, captained by Joseph Hazelwood and bound for Long Beach, California, hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled an estimated minimum 10.8 million US gallons (40.9 million litres) of crude oil. |
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